The Aftermath: A Stranger FanFiction
by strangexstories
Summary: After everything the town of Hawkins has been through, everyone tries to get their life back to normal but, can they?
1. Prologue

Confusion. That's what all the parents were feeling on that night. They had no idea what journey their kids went for them to get their friend back. For the kids, everything was a blur that night. They remember screaming and running all around the school. They remember the 'bad men', the demegorgen, and her. The one who saved them all from death. Though it was a crazy night, it was one they hope they'd never forget. They new they weren't ever going to forget. Lucas and Dustin were so baffled and bewildered. But, Mike was hurt.

He felt a pain in his chest that grew every time he thought about the girl he loved. Crying was the only thing that helped so, he did. He cried and cried until he made himself sick. Nancy had also lost someone she loved and cared about. Her best friend was dead and she knew it was all her fault. She just hated knowing that she would never see her best friend again and it was all of her fault.

The Byers family on the other hand were not feeling great but, relieved. Joyce could finally breathe now that her son was back home. She had missed hugging here and messing with his hair. The week without him had felt like hell. Jonathon was happy to have his brother home. He was glad that his mom wouldn't go insane everyday because of his absence. He was excited to continue to show his brother new things. Music, movies, book, and more. Will was happy to be home. He had felt so cold in the Upside Down but at home, he was warm.

Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Nancy, and Jonathan got school off for 2 months. Mike and Nancy becoming closer, but also giving each other space to mourn the loss of there loved ones. Mike had gotten sick most of the time with colds, the flu, and stomach aches. Everything was just so messed up in his body and his mind. One day he was so sick he had thrown up about 5 times. Nancy was mostly sad and also became very curious. Since everything happened, Nancy had become more interested in Science. She would go to the library and check out books. She would read them when she was home alone or watching her brother.


	2. Chapter 1: The Slugs

It had been a month since everything went down. Karen Wheeler had tried to get her families life back together. Mike had stayed in his room and wouldn't open uo to anyone, Nancy was always at the library with Jonathon, and Mr. Wheeler had divorced Mrs. Wheeler which put a lot more pressure on her shoulders. She had to watch after Holly while also making sure her kids wouldn't fall apart. She had finally had enough of and needed to talk to her family. She had told Nancy and Mike that they'd have a family meeting while Holly was taking a nap. Nancy was ready to open up but, Mike didn't know. He didn't know what he had felt anymore but, he went anyways.

"Ok guys, i think that it's time we have a talk.", Mrs. Wheeler said.

"I agree mom. I miss talking to you guys. Especially you Mike.", Nancy said. Mike looked up at Nancy. His eyes all red, filling with tears already.

"I do too.", he replied. His voice was very shaky.

"Great. Well to start, i just wanted to make sure you guys are ready to go back to school in January.", Mrs. Wheeler said to her kids.

"Well, I'm ok with it. Are you find with it Mike?", Nancy asked him. His head was down again.

"I guess i'm ok with it.", he said, keeping his head down.

"That's great! And, it'll be great you'll get to see your friends everyday again.", Mrs. Wheeler said. Nancy looked down. She automatically thought of Barb. "By the way, your friends are coming over for Christmas Eve. And, Nancy i talked to Steve parents and their going to come over to." Nancy smiled, remembering her boyfriend. They had run into each other a few weeks ago and made up. They were dating again. "Don't worry it'll be fun.", Mrs. Wheeler continued.

Back at the Byers house, everything started cooling down. Will had mostly been resting on the couch, watching movies. Jonathon was usually out at the library with Nancy or getting things for Joyce while she was watching her son. Joyce and Will had been bonding a lot over the course of a few weeks. She tried to keep herself from asking questions about the upside down but, sometimes she did for Jim. He had still been trying to find Eleven and was thinking of ways on how she vanished.

One night at the Byer household, while they were eating dinner, Will started to feel his stomach churn. It felt like something was crawling up and around his stomach. Immediately, Will thought he was going to be sick so he excused himself to the restroom. He got into the bathroom and felt whatever that was in his stomach make itself crawl upward, through his throat. He coughed and coughed trying to get the thing out of his throat. Finally he threw up, seeing a green and slimy slug. Will looked up at himself, tired, scared, and confused. Will frantically turned on the water, letting the slug go down the drain. Once it was gone, he looked up at himself again. Suddenly, the bathroom went dark. The walls had vines on them, the air was thin with particles in it, it smelt like a garbage, and it was cold. Will then realized it was the Upside Down. After 5 seconds of the horrible vision, Will snapped back to reality. A wave of horror went through his body. He quickly escaped the bathroom, terrified of what might happen next.

He entered his kitchen again, still uncomfortable and scared. Joyce saw him come in with a blank and scared look on his face. "Hey, you ok?", Joyce asked her son. Will finally realizing how he look replied with, "Yeah i'm ok.", then looked down at his plate. For the rest of dinner, Will couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. He was trying to comprehend if it was just a vision or if it was real. Thinking about it all made his head hurt.

At around 8, Will decided to go to sleep because of him not feeling well. His mother had questioned him, asking if he had a fever. Will told her everything would be fine if he had just gotten some rest. Joyce started to worry about her son, thinking he wasn't opening up to her about something. She was scared that he had been nervous to tell her something which was the case. Will on the other hand didn't want to tell his mom because he didn't want her to worry about it but, she already had been.

Will had gone to bed hoping to feel better in the morning and forget what had happened at dinner. He closed his eyes, relaxing them, and slept well for the first half of the night. He had woken up suddenly when he heard a loud bang. He awoke suddenly, heart beating fast, and found himself on the ground in his tent. He freaked out and ran outside of it, wondering how he got there. He got out of the tent and was shocked when he saw himself back in the upside down. He let out a scream of fear, tears filling in his eyes. He thought that him going home was all a dream and he was still stuck in that horrid place. He started to cry and then, the cries turned into sobs. That had lasted until Will heard his name being called. The voice sounded scared and worried. He finally realized that it was his mom, and started calling her name. "Mom! Mom, where are you!?", he screamed out. He closed his eyes, tears running down his face, and breathless. He opened his eyes and was back in his room. His bed was a mess and the lamp on the floor with him.

Joyce barged into Will's room to find him helpless on the floor crying. She ran over to him and asked a series of questions like, "Will what's going on?" and "Are you ok?!". Will didn't answer and just kept on crying. He tried to say words but they ended up just being gibberish. Joyce hugged him and kept saying , "Will, it's ok i'm here. I'm here ok, just breathe." After a while Will calmed down and Joyce moved him to the couch.


	3. Chapter 2: When Dreams Become Reality

Joyce hadn't talk to Will for awhile trying to give him space and not make him get emotional again. He had been so shook from the situation he didn't have the courage to open up on his own. He had been trying to figure out how he'd explain it. He also didn't know if he'd talk about the slugs and if they had anything to with it. Joyce watched her son contemplate it all and needed answers.

"Okay Will, can you tell me what happened?" Instead of responding to his mother, he looked down and started to get teary-eyed. "Will I want you to remember that you can tell me anything okay." Will didn't know what to tell his mom. He hadn't known if it were a dream or not. It had felt so real but also like a dream. "I don't know.", Will muttered out. His voice was so shaky it was hard to tell what he had said but, Joyce figured it out. "Well, is there anything else you can tell me like, like what you saw?"

Will took a breath and swallowed. He finally let out, "I was back-back there.", he told his mom. "Where? Where honey I need to-", she stopped, realizing what he meant. She let Out a sigh of fear and confusion. "And- it was dark and cold and… I thought I lost you guys again." The tears that Joyce had in her eyes started to fall down her cheeks. She grabbed her son, pulling him into a hug. "It was just a dream, ok?", she told him. She startsd rubbing her hands through his hair, trying to calm him. Will started crying softly again and those cries turned into sobs. He grabbed his mom tightly not letting her go until Jonathon came in the room looking worried.

"What's going on?", he said turning on the lights to the living room. Once they turned on, Will stopped crying and started drying his eyes.

"Well," Joyce started looking at her youngest son. "Your brother had a bad dream but, I think he's ok now.", Joyce continued. She started rubbing her son back as he started coughing and coughing. Will realizing what was going to happen, got up and told his mom he had to use the bathroom. Before he left she asked him, "Are you ok honey?" Will nodded and quickly walked to the bathroom. He got in the bathroom, locked the door, and puked up the slug again but this time, there was no vision of the upside down. Will was super relieved but also still scared about the slugs.

He walked out of the bathroom to see Joyce walking towards him. She quickly put the back of her hand on his forehead and felt if it was hot. Will closed his eyes while she checked, hoping for the best. Luckily, Joyce didn't feel that his head was hot but he did look very pale. "Well, you do feel fine so, I guess I'll leave you alone. Just remember that you can tell me anything ok?" "Mom! I know ok…you've said that a million times." She sighed, kissed his head and told him to ly on the couch. So, Will did exactly that. He sat down on the couch, drained and tired but, he couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the Upside Down again and a shiver would go down his spine. His mom stayed up with him while he watched Star Wars. They watched 'A new hope' and 'empire strikes back'.

Eventually Will fell asleep, dreaming about everything except the Upside Down. Joyce was super relieved that her son had found some sort of peace that night. She had been so scared that something had happened to him again. She was so heartbroken that her kid was now traumatized from his experience the place that he and she had once visited. But, she was so happy that he was finally resting well and hoped that everything would be fine.

Will woke up feeling not well rested but, not as tired as he would've been if he hadn't gone to sleep. It was around 10:00 a.m when he woke up to the smell if bacon. He looked up, eyes squinted, and saw Jonathon in the Kitchen making food. He saw his mother sitting in the dining room reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. She glanced over at him and saw his tiny self looking over at her. She smiled, got up, and walked over to him.

"Hey Will, how are you?", Joyce asked her son. Will sat up and shrugged at his mother. His memory of last night suddenly became blurry and he didn't understand what had happened last night. He shrugged his shoulder at his mother with a tired face. "Well, how about you eat some breakfast and then…we can see where the day leads us.", Joyce told her son. "Don't we have that Christmas Eve part at the Wheelers tonight?" Will said. His voice was all raspy and croaky. "That's right!", Joyce said. "Well, we can do whatever we want until then but, I have to ask how you're feeling." Will went silent. He looked down at the couch and took a deep breath. He really didn't want to tell his mom and make her stressed again. "I just, I don't know, I just didn't feel well." Will got out quickly. "But, I'm ok now.", he continued.

"Well that's good but, if you start to feel sick at the Wheeler's, tell me." Will nodded at his mother. He moved the blanket off of his legs and walked along over to the table. Jonathon put a plate down in front of him and smiled at him. Will smiled back, then started eating. It had been a few minutes of silence at the table. Joyce decided that there was something important. "So Will, do you think you'll be able to go back to school in January?" Will suddenly though of his friendship with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. He had missed them a lot. The last time they saw each other was when he was in the hospital.


	4. Chapter 3

p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""Will, you look so handsome!", Joyce said looking at her son. Since the dress code for the Christmas Eve party was formal, Will had to look through his closet for stuff he had found. "Mom it's just a vest don't get excited." Will said. Joyce rolled her eyes and smiled at her son. He smiled back at her. He had actually felt happy. "Hey Jonathon, can you come take a photo of your brother please."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""I would….if it still worked." Jonathon said, sitting down on Will's bed. "Oh that's right. I'm sorry honey I, I forgot." Jonathon sighed and replied with a simple, "Yeah". "What happened to his camera?", Will asked his mom. "Someone broke it." Jonathan said, answering for her. Jonathon looked down at his socks. He thought about Steve and then, he thought about Nancy. He still liked her after everything. He thought the butterflies in his stomach would go away by now but, they were still there. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;"Will was about to sit down next to Jonathon to comfort him when he felt something move around. Will felt a rush of fear run through his body. He didn't want to spit out the slug quickly. He walked over to the door and as calmly as he can said, "I'll be right back." Joyce noticed his voice was a bit shaky but, she didn't want to make her son upset so she left it alone. Will quickly closed the door behind him and ran to the bathroom. He got in there, locked the door, and closed his eyes. Will thought that everything was going to be the same as usual, he pukes up the slug and may or may not see the upside down. This time it was a bit different. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;"He coughed as hard as he could, letting the slug travel to his throat and out of his mouth. He closed his eyes again, scared of what he might see. He opened his eyes slightly to see a girl in the mirror. Her hair, gone. Her nose, bleeding. Her eyes, tired and red. She was screaming "Help" and "Mike" over and over again. Will reached for the mirror, wanting to see if he could do anything. She just kept screaming "Mike! Help! Get me out please it's coming!" Will closed his eyes again and opened them to see nothing in the mirror except himself. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;"He ran out of the bathroom and back into his room to see his Mom and Jonathon in the exact same spot as before. Will had a blank face, not trying to show any emotion at all. "Can I talk to Jonathon….alone.", Will asked his mother. "Well, sure, ok. I'll um..I'll be in my room if you need me." Joyce walked out of the room worked and concerned. Was her son not telling her something? /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""What's up Will?", Jonathon asked his brother. Will looked nervous which made Jonathon nervous. "Whatever I tell you, promise not to tell mom." Will told his brother quickly. Jonathon got even more worried and nervous then before. "Well, it depends on what it is. Are you hurt or..?" Will sighed and ran up to the door, making sure his mom wasn't listening. He sat back down and took a breath. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""What..", Will began. "What did Eleven look like." Jonathon was silent. He remembers he told Will about Eleven in the hospital but, not much. "Why do want to know? Did you see her somewhere?", Jonathon said. He got up and started walking around the room. "Well, I don't know that's why I want you to tell me what she looks like." Will told him. "Well, she didn't have hair. That's one thing." Will breathed out a scared and relieved sigh. "I didn't get to see her much." Jonathon continued. "Why did you want to know again?" /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""I saw her Jonathon. She was literally in the mirror. She was right..right there!" Jonathon listened, interested in what he was going to say next. "She was screaming, asking for help. And, and she was calling Mike's name. She said it was coming and to get her out or, something like that." Jonathon took in all of the information. He became worried and confused. He wanted to believe his brother but, he didn't know if he could. He knew Will had a bad dream the night before. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""Ok well, how…how did you see her?", Jonathon asked his brother softly. Will took a breath, holding back tears. He had already cried enough. He let out a big breath and said, "I think there's something wrong with me." Jonathon was still quiet. "I…I don't know what it is but I think, I think I'm somehow connected to the upside down." Will looked down at his feet, scared to see Jonathon's reaction. "Oh my god.", Jonathon let out. "I thought we were done with all of that I…", Jonathon breathed. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""Well how do you know?", Jonathon asked softly. "Well, last night I was there Jonathon. Mom says it was a dream but, but I know it wasn't." Jonathon took in the information then said, "Well did you tell mom yet?" "No, I didn't I- I was too scared." It was silent. "Can you just promise me that you won't tell her. I'll find a way to do it myself." Jonathon sighed looking down and the floor then, back at his brother. "Fine.", he said. "Are you going to tell your friends?", Jonathon continued. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;"Will had never thought about that. He wondered what would happen if he had gotten sick at Mike's house and they saw. What would he do? Would he tell them everything? The nightmare, the slugs, and him seeing the girl in the mirror. "I'm not sure yet. I don't know how they'd react. They've already been through enough because of me." Will pulled his knees up to his chested and looked down. "Hey, Will…it's not you fault ok and, I think your friends will support you." Will smiled, remembering his memories with his friends. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;"They had always supported him. When he had broken his finger while riding his bike, his friends helped him back to his house. They had stayed with him at the doctors when he was scared, they kept him company at home, and they made them feel special. They had also went out of there way to save him from the upside down so, they deserved to know. "I'll tell them soon.", Will told his brother. Jonathon nodded and left the room; closing the door. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""Hey uh, Jonathon. What were you guys talking about in there?", said Joyce who was standing outside the door. "Mom it was nothing he just, he had a few questions.", Jonathon told his mother. "You stuttered Jonathon! You stuttered-" Jonathon stopped her saying, "Mom you know I stutter when I speak. Will is fine. Why do you worry about him so much?" "Why wouldn't I? My son spent a week in that horrid place and…and I feel like he's sacred to talk to me. " Jonathon thought about what Will had told him. "Don't tell mom" he thought in his head. He was so torn. He wanted to tell his mom about his brother. He had been scared for him and wanted to help him some way but, he had swore to keep the secret. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="font-kerning: none;""Mom, I would tell you if something was going on.", he lied. He could tell Will was listening through the door and, he was right. Will had been listening through the door the whole time. He was relieved that Jonathon didn't tell his mother. After the conversation ended Will took of his vest and pants of and laid down on his bed. He had thought about the party that was going to happen that night. He had been nervous to see his friends again. "What are we going to talk about? What should we talk about? Should we talk about anything?!" Will thought to himself. He then got up and sat at his desk. He started to draw Eleven by memory. It had taken him a while and he was proud of the outcome/span/p  
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